Moccasin.



S. ARMSTRONG.

MOOGASIN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, 1909.

Patented Man-2, 1909.

I stood by those'skilled in the art Specification 01 Letters Patent.

. Patented Mm 2,.1BQ9..

Application filed February 27, 1908. Serial No. $028.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STILLMAN ARMSTRONG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vanceboro, in the county of Washington and State of 'Maine,have invented new and useful Improvements in Moccasins, of which thefollowing i's'a specification.

The present invention relates to foot coverings and particularly to'that type known as moccasins.

It has for its object the provision of a moccasin of the low quarterstyle, in which the disposition of the lacing flaps insures the securefastenin of the moccasin against looseness and s i and, furthermore,such lacing flaps, together with the tongue, when arranged in accordancewith my invention, aflord a complete protection forthe inste of thewearer; these results being accom lis ed without adding materially tothe weight or .-cost of the moccasin, and without detractingfrom itsappearance or comfort.

- In order that the invention ma be underhave illustrated in thedrawings'herewith one embodiment of my invention, and that the best nowknown to me.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of amoccasinconstructed in accordance with my. invention, one of the lacingflapsbeing thrown to an upright position in order to show theirconstructlon, and the construction and arrangement of the tongueclosure. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the moccasinshown in Fig. 1, the heel portion being left in elevation. Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view across the rear ends of the lacingfiaps toshow the manner of-attaehing t ese to the upper. 4 is a top plan view ofa portion of the moccasin to show the closure, the lacing flaps beingopened for clearncss of illustration. Fig. 5

-- is an enlarged detail view to show the manlike numbers indicatinglike parts in the sev-' nerof attaching the lacing flaps to the up er.Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view ofthe eel-seam of the moccasin. e

Referring to the drawings by numerals,

eral views, 2 indicates the sole and upper portion of the moccasin,which preferabl and as herein shown, is formed of a sing e piece ofsuitable material the upper being of cut and seamed togethersubstantially uniform height, the blank,

from which it is formed being shaped to the proper contour and haviniits heel portigfi yv an outturn 'eel portion and take care of the unseam along the lines of an inverted T, so as to ive the proper shape andoverhangt0 the. esirable fullness which would otherwise exist when themoccasin is shaped up of a single piece ct material.

Secured tothe upper edges of the forward or toe portion of the moccasin2 is the top section 3 of the moccasin, which is stitched to themoccasin 2 by an outstanding seam, as shown in Fig. 2, in the samemanner as the seams at the heel of the moccasinareformed, so that thereare no inwardly projecting ridges. to chafe the foot. This top section 3is stitched to the sole and upper portion 2' of the moccasin back to apo1nt justabove the. instep and has a free rearwardly projecting orti'on4 to which is secured, by stitching or in any suitable manner, a freetongue ortion 1 5 which is preferably of relatively thin flexible stock,and which" is not attached to the moccasin except where it joins theportion 4.. It will be observed that by providing free rearwardlyprojecting portion 4 o-f'thfi top, section 3', and securin the tonguethe edge of such rearwar y projecting portion, the stitching which joinsthe projecting part 4 and the tongue 5 is taken out of the natural lineof flexure of the tongue closure so that it is not subjected to thewearing incident to bending or ullin forward of the .tongue, the naturalme 0 the bend of the tongEue portion being between the points 6,

ig. 4. In order that this low cut moccasin may be firmly secured to thefoot of the wearer and held against any looseness or slip, and at thesame time protection maybe af forded the instep to guardi't againstinjuryin tramping through undergrowth or over--- rough; country, Irovide the upstanding lac,- 1

in flaps 7, whic are independent oifeaeh: 0t er and preferably shaged asshown with their rear ends sloping gra ually downwardil g. to the edgeof the upper 2, and their forwaends free and projecting'forwardily sothat they maybe drawn over and across the ms'tep' I above thpitbnghe 5,thereby afi'ording a e rletees doa aeai a ep; 1

while gt the same time tdrefy eflectihfoly ee;

cure the moccasin to the foot, it being 'under-.

stood that the usual lacing "thongs will be used in the eyelets of thelacing flaps 7..

It will be, observed that the lacing flaps-r7 are secured at their loweredges to the upper edges of the upper 'picg'tio'n 2 on each sidethereof, and the stitc g which secures the'sg lacing flaps to the upperreferably terminates at a point substantia y coincident with the pointwhere the rearWardly-projectingportion 4 of the top section 3 egins, asclearly shown in F i s. 1 and 2, so that the strain of opening t elacing flaps and the tongue closure for the insertion of the foot iscentralized at one point, and this may be strongly reinforced byincreasing the stitch ing, or, as herein shown, and referably, byproviding a rivet 7 which is ocated at the corner of the lacing fiap 7at the point of greatest strain, so that the likelihood of separation ofany of the parts in use may thus be minimized. Furthermor thisarrangement provides for the ready opening and easy insertion of thefoot without leaving any gaping openings when the moccasin is laced up,for j the lacing flaps 7 extend beyond the free portion 4, and thetongue 5 and the forwardly I projecting ends 8 of these lacing flaps 7eil'eci tu ally cover this tongue closure when the boot is laced up.

The lacing flaps 7 are independent of each other in that they do notextend around the heel portion of the moccasin, but extend .upwardly oneither side thereof between the heel and toe of the moccasin at or aboutthe line of the instep so that they naturally stand about the instep,and this position of the lacing ilaps 7 coupled with the fact that theyi are provided with the free forwardly eXtending portions 8, :provides amoccasin which may be securely laced and held tothe foot without thenecessity of providing an up- 5 wardly extending heel portion as iscommon.

in order that the exterior of the moccasin l may be smooth and finishedI preferably chamfr-r or thin the lower edges 9 of the, lacing flaps asshown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5, and i then, in order to secure the partsproperly, 5 I provide a plurality of lines of stitching through the edgeof the upper and the thin portion of the lacing ilaps, as clearly shownin Fig. 5 and this results in giving a smooth exterior withoutsacrificing any of the strength of the securing means.

By forming a moccasin, in the manner shown, of a single piece ofmaterial so far as 1 the sole and upper portion is concerned, and sha'ling the heel by means of the outturned inverted Tgshapcd seam andjoining the top section 3 by the same style of scam, a mocj casin havingan absolutely smooth interior is pro ided and all danger of cha'ling thej feet is eliminated.

By providing the top piece 3 with a rearj wardly-projecting portion 4,and securing the tongue proper 5 to the rearwardly rojecting portlon, Itake the line of hen or fiexure on which the tongue is manipulated awayfrom the stitching and eliminate the danger of strain and wear upon thisstitching.

By providing-the up-standing forwardly projecting lacing flapson eachside of the upper I secure a very effective closure, and one which, inconnection with the tongue closure, will protect the instep againstinjury and will also revent the ingress of dirt, twigs, and the ike, tothe moccasin in working through a rough country; and, furthermore, theoverlapping and projecting lacing flaps form a most effective securingmeans .wh ieh will hold the moccasin on the foot without slip orlooseness, and it will be observed, further, that the sloped-otf rearportions of the lacing flaps are so merged into the line of the top ofthe moccasin that a very pleasing and comfortable heel portion isprovided and one which will not extend too high on the heel of thewearer so as to cause annoyance or chafing.

It is obvious that some slight changes may be made in the moccasin whichI have invented within the skill of the maker without departing from myinvention and I do 111 a proper position ior lacing across andE nottherefore, limit myself to any of the details shown and described exceptso far as I am limited by the prior art to which the invention belongs.Having fully disclosedmy invention, 1. claim A moccasin comprising asole and upper portion formed of a single piece of material,

a top piece formed of a separate piece of material and secured to saidupper portion, said top piece having a free portion at its end adjacentthe instep and constituting a portion of the tongue of the moccasin, anindependent piece secured to said free portion and constituting theremaining portion of said tongue, and a pair of flaps secured to theside edges ol said upper and adapted to I have their inner edges meetcentrally of and overlap the tongue, the rearends of said {laps slopingback to the heel portion of said upper whereby to provide asdbstantially sealed closure for the foot. 5

ln testnnon y whereof I have hereunto set 1 my hand in presence of twosubscribing Wit- IIUSHCS.

SllLIJMA A R MST RON G.

Witnesses:

THOMAS BEEns, ERNEST L. BARTLETT.

